What's It All About?
Chuck Bartowski was a simple computer nerd living with his sister and her boyfriend while toiling away doing menial tech support work at the local big box electronics store, Buy More, with his best friend Morgan. That is, until he opened up an encrypted email and sensitive government information, known as the Intersect, was embedded in his brain. Now able to recall information on terrorists and weapons of mass destruction via "flashes," Chuck is overseen by NSA and CIA agents John Casey and Sarah Walker.

What's It All About?
The Hecks are a middle-income, middle-class family of five living in a middle-American suburb in Indiana. Though Mike and Frankie Heck work multiple jobs to make ends meet, they still find time to be in the lives of their three children: Sue, a junior high schooler who seems to be invisible to the rest of the students as well as the teachers; Axl, their 16-year-old son who tends to walk around in just his underwear while at home; and Brick, their very intelligent third-grader who likes to read, has social issues and repeats words in a stage whisper.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.
Dora the Explorer and her menagerie of helpers continue their preschool domination with a new primetime special airing on Monday, March 14. In 'Dora's Ballet Adventure,' the pint-sized explorer is frantic after the ballet shoes she needs for her recital go missing. In their place is a pair of scuba flippers presented by the delivery duck. The rest of the 30-minute episode deals with Dora and Boot's quest to find the missing ballet shoes.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Not many folks are very familiar with the name Dwayne McDuffie, but you might know his television work. Especially if you were a regular viewer of shows like 'Justice League Unlimited' and 'Ben 10: Alien Force.' On Tuesday, one day after his birthday, McDuffie died at the age of 49 due to complications from emergency heart surgery.

In this week's column, we take a brief look at McDuffie's impact on animated television.

I haven't been a "junior" anything in a very long time. But I'm a guy, and guys like cartoons as much as kids do, right? Maybe even more sometimes.

For my second Journal of a Couch Potato, I watched the new "Disney Junior" (formerly "Playhouse Disney") programming block on The Disney Channel, a mix of old and new shows. The changes were made to include more "social values" into the pre-school programming.

The Power Rangers are back, with a new look, a new cast and on a new network. 'Power Rangers Samurai' debuts on Nickelodeon Monday, Feb. 7, at 8PM ET. When the series, now in its 19th season, made the jump from Disney to its new home, it got a shiny, martial-arts-influenced reboot.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

After a decade away from the character he portrayed in 'The Phantom Menace,' Liam Neeson is returning to the Star Wars universe in Cartoon Network's 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars.' During the next two original episodes (tonight and Feb. 4 at 8:30PM), Neeson will portray Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, the man who helped bring Anakin Skywalker into the realm of the Jedi.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Last week, we took a look at the past year for family programming on the major networks, PBS, ABC Family and Cartoon Network. This time around we'll look at Disney Channel, DisneyXD, The HUB, the Nickelodeon family of channels and PBS Kids Sprout.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

With 2011 just a week away, it's time to reflect on what happened in family programming in 2010. Turns out, there was a good deal of activity during the year -- so much that it can't all fit in this column. So, to cover everything that took place, we'll split the review into two parts.

This week we'll take a look at NBC, PBS, ABC Family and Cartoon Network.

For 52 years, Yogi Bear has been a staple of television's animated universe. With intelligence higher than that of the average bear, a trusty compatriot named Boo-Boo and an addiction to pick-a-nick baskets, the confident Yogi has been a favorite of kids, their parents and their grandparents for generations.

With the release of the 'Yogi Bear' movie on Dec.17, a new generation of viewers were introduced to the character, now animated in glorious CGI. For those not familiar with Yogi, Jellystone Park or Ranger Smith, here is a primer for you.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Back in 1983, the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) and China Central Television worked in conjunction to produce 'Big Bird in China,' a primetime special that aired on NBC.

In the special, Big Bird and the big dog known as Barkley travel through the country to find the Phoenix bird. Highlights of the show featured Big Bird walking across the Great Wall of China as well as strolling around the city of Beijing.

Twenty-seven years later, Big Bird is making a return to the country and bringing some new friends to boot.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Fifteen more days until Christmas means 15 more days of holiday specials. Here are some more family-friendly offerings being offered by the networks:

ABC: The '2010 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade' will air on December 25 from 11AM to 1PM. Filmed at Florida's Disney World and California's Disneyland, the parade will feature guest stars Maria Carey, Selina Gomez, Lee DeWyze and the band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The show will be hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Nick Cannon.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

We start with ABC Family and their love for the Harry Potter movie series. Last week, the cable outlet signed a deal with Warner Brothers to acquire the rights to the last two entries in the franchise -- 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2.' The agreement, which will give ABC Family first-run rights on basic cable, allows the network to run Part 1 of the movie in the spring of 2013, with part two to air in the winter of that same year.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We sum up all of the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

We start off with the dilemma facing the producers of Disney Channel's 'Sonny With a Chance.' With star Demi Lovato on indefinite hiatus due to personal reasons, the idea of focusing the newest season on the other characters of the show doesn't seem right.

Therefore, instead of the behind-the-scenes look at the fictional teen sketch show 'So Random!,' the producers will re-center the series on the sketch/music-variety show itself.

November 18, 1985 was a day that changed children's television. It was on this day that Elmo, the furry red monster of 'Sesame Street,' came into his own, thanks to puppeteer Kevin Clash.

An extra for years, voiced on occasion by folks like Carol Spinney (Big Bird) and Richard Hunt (Scooter from 'The Muppet Show'), Clash turned the very minor character into a 3 1/2-year-old mainstay that, depending on your feelings, transformed 'Sesame Street' in a good or bad way.

Since his introduction to 'Sesame Street,' Elmo has become the face of the four-decade old series, appearing on talk shows, primetime series, his own movie ('Elmo in Grouchland') and on the toy shelves as Tickle Me Elmo. He even has his own 15-minute show-within-a-show on 'Sesame Street' titled 'Elmo's World.'